Tomlinson Hall

Tomlinson Hall was financed through a bequest made by local druggist Stephen D. Tomlinson who died in 1870. His will provided that a city market would have to be built in the hall on the west end of what then was known as East Market Square where the farmers had sold their meat eggs milk and produce since the 1830s.

Construction began on Tomlinson Hall in 1883 and it was dedicated in 1886 the same year the City Market was completed. The hall became a cultural showpiece in spite of the truck gardeners' stands and farm wagons in the surrounding streets. The Grand Army of the Republic, the Civil War verterans' organization, held a fund raiser there in 1886 to help raise funds for the Soldiers and Sailors Monument which was not yet built. It also hosted United Mine Workers meetings political and industrial conventions and concerts by big name bands of the Roaring '20s. Oldtime sectional basketball tournaments were played there as well.

On the night of Jan. 30 1958 the structure caught fire illuminating the downtown area as flames climbed hundreds of feet into the air. The historic hall was razed six months later. A single doorway arch facing east is all that stands today in the market's courtyard.